Diy Co2

[sjdriscoll]

Anyone else encountered the problem of making the lid on a 2 litre DIY CO2 unit airtight (or, rather CO2 tight)?

I drilled a hole smaller than the hose and then 'sealed' inside and out with silicon sealent, waited a day and then hooked it all up to my bottle. After 2 days the yeast mixture is bubbling away but none is reaching my diffuser!

I've tested the lines and all are ok so I can only assume a leak at the bottle top.

I know this sounds silly but the sealant doesn't seem to adhere to the smooth plastic of the plastic lid.

Anyone give some help?

 

[jspence1]

I had the same problem. I used plumbers goop and it worked great. No problems since

gl
John

 

[Neo8223]

Same problem here before. I tried a different bottle cap and made the hole smaller. I also heated up the silicone tubing in boiling hot water so i could push it through easier with the aid of some pliers. Worked great. I found aquarium grade silicone not much help to be honest unless you use copious amounts and wait 2 days for it to dry.

 

[sjdriscoll]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Plumbers goop and boil the hose it is for me then!

 

[smithrc]

1. drill a 6mm hole in the lid
2. put a small length (10mm) of air line into the hole
3. force an airline straight connector into it.

instant seal ready to use straight away with no mess

 

[sjdriscoll]

Cheers, didn't think of that. I'll try that one too.

I now have one unit working so thanks to all.

Now my bubbles are stopping halfway up the ladder! Does it never end??

 

[SJ2K]

If its in the water it should be dispuring

 

[SuperColey1]

Adding to SmithRCs coment.

I used to use a straight airline connector and thread it over an M6 sized washer and then push it through the hole. Then I would screw an M6 nut onto the inside piece of the connector. Then I would use sealant over the whole washer/airline, bottle lid.

(M6 is a very comon size and easy to find in Wilko if you don't find it them lying around somewhere.)

Andy

 

[sjdriscoll]

Thanks for all the help.

CO2 now bubbling through the whole of my ladder. I didn't realise how quickly each bubble would get smaller and smaller. Quite amazing really that the C gets taken up so quickly!

How long will a 2litre diy bottle keep going for in uk climate at this time of year (central heating on in the evening) do you think. Most people seem to reckon only a week but all the articles I've read say 4-5 weeks!

 

[SuperColey1]

4-5 weeks is the lifetime of the mix but you only want the peak.

Therefore you change weekly so that your CO2 concentration doesn't go up then down for 3 weeks then up etc.

Andy